The UMW family, across the country and across the world, came together to make history Tuesday, March 19, on Mary Wash Giving Day.
During the 24-hour online fundraising marathon, donors in 45 states and seven countries made 3,533 gifts totaling $586,493* to benefit students and programs across the University, including the arts, academics, athletics, student life and scholarships. Each gift helps to ensure a strong future for Mary Washington and its students, continuing a longstanding tradition of dynamic donor support at the 111-year-old institution.
Donors exceeded the day’s lofty goal of 3,500 gifts and topped last year’s results, breaking the record for the largest day of giving in University history. On Giving Day in March 2018, supporters made 2,987 gifts totaling $449,631.
Challenges and matches, unlocking extra funding for programs when milestones were met throughout the day – themed “All In” – also grew this year. Challenges sponsored by alumni, faculty, staff, parents and friends of the University offered more than $200,000 in matching funds to expand the impact of each gift. The day’s focus was on participation over dollar amounts, with many challenges designed to reward gifts of any amount.
Social media was abuzz throughout the day and night with Mary Washington stories, photos and videos, all catalogued with the hashtag #MaryWashDay. More than 400 Giving Day Ambassadors, including alumni, students, faculty and staff, volunteered to spread the word online to inspire others to give back.
In the University Center, the Giving Day Headquarters brought the celebration to students with games, a photo booth, prize wheel and donation station. Students dropped in all day to make gifts, share thank-you messages for donors and check out the leaderboard updates online at givingday.umw.edu.
“Giving Day gives all of us an opportunity to show off our UMW pride,” Director of Annual Giving Beth Hunsinger ’01 said. “It’s also a way to pay it forward by supporting the programs on campus that mean the most to us, ensuring students’ access to a life-changing liberal arts education.”
*The results listed above are preliminary.
Will we be given an itemization of each of the receiving departments, their total receipts, the number of gifts and the amount of matching funds? I hope so because this massive receipt of funds on Tuesday should meet a lot of individual goals! I’d like to see those.
THANK YOU!